Filmmaker Liz Nord recommends documentaries

New York-based filmmaker Liz Nord joined Leah to run down a list of documentaries for watching during winter break. Liz also talked to Leah about how she became a documentary filmmaker and obsessed with the art form.

Follow Liz online to find out when her documentary is streaming.

• https://www.liznord.com/
• Instagram @LizFilm

Show Notes

• Music Box Theatre Chicago
• Trembling Before G-d
• Supersize Me
• Street Level TV
• Closed Captions at Sundance Now
• Short of the Week
• Omeleto
• Op Docs
• Albert and David Maysles
• The Truffle Hunters
• The Eagle Huntress
• No Film School interview about The Eagle Huntress 
• The Mole Agent
• Bad Axe (shortlisted for Oscars)
• https://www.almaharel.com/film/bombaybeach
• I Am Not Your Negro
• Betsy West and Julie Cohen
• Summer of Soul

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah.

Wash your hands, wear your mask, get your booster and keep enjoying your favorite thing.

 

Liz Nord Documentaries_mixdown

1:17:42

SPEAKERS

Announcer, Leah Jones, Liz Nord

 

Liz Nord 00:00

Hi, my name is Liz Nord, and my Favorite Things are documentary films.

 

Announcer  00:05

Welcome to the Finding Favorites Podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

 

Leah Jones  00:18

Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. And this is the podcast where we learn about people's favorite things without using an algorithm. I'm so excited this afternoon I am with one of my OG go into Israel friends. I'm here today with Liz Nord. She is an Executive Producer, who started in the news and documentaries. She makes documentaries, podcasts, multimedia online content. Most recently, Liz worked at Sundance, and she's here today with us on finding favorites. Liz, how are you?

 

Liz Nord 00:58

Hi, Leah Jones. I'm so excited to be here.

 

Leah Jones  01:01

It's so good to be catching up with you. I was so thrilled when you send me your email. I'm like, How have I not had Liz on yet? You had a podcast before almost anyone I knew. And yeah, you I hadn't I didn't ask you to be on. That's on me.

 

Liz Nord 01:17

Well, yeah. So that your listeners know I literally I asked, I requested to be on the podcast. I'm a fan of both Leah and of the podcast. And I was like, I have favorite things. So here we are.

 

Leah Jones  01:32

I'm so happy. So we were doing a little catching up before I hit record. And just reflecting a little bit we met in I think the summer of 2007 at a conference in Israel. Is that right? Is it like did you go in 2007?

 

Liz Nord 01:48

Did you know I think I was like the year after you. It might have been 2008. So it's been a while.

 

Leah Jones  01:57

And at the time, your documentary age, were you still working on Jericho’s Echo in 2008? Or was it just

 

Liz Nord 02:05

No it has been out in world, which I think is why I was invited to this conference with Jewish artists and Jewish innovators people creating Jewish things in the world. And my film Jericho’s Echo was not specifically Jewish, but it was about Israeli punk rockers. And so it fit the bill.

 

Leah Jones  02:27

Yeah. So we met then we see each other at conferences. We see each other at conferences, weddings, funeral when

 

Liz Nord 02:38

Your dad has art shows in New York.

 

Leah Jones  02:40

When my dad has art shows in New York. Yes. We've got to get you guys out to Chicago.

 

Liz Nord 02:47

Absolutely. I really want to go to the Chicago Museum is the contemporary art museum. The one that's right downtown. I've been once before and I loved it so much.

 

Leah Jones  02:57

The Art Institute of Chicago, which is the mass of everything one.

 

Liz Nord 03:01

Like near the bean.

 

Leah Jones  03:05

And then there's also a Museum of Contemporary Art, which is stunning. But the Art Institute of Chicago is the one it's got, I always just got everything.

 

Liz Nord 03:18

Yeah, I was amazed by that museum. And I live in New York, it's not like I don't have access to culture. But yeah, love to come back. Also good food.

 

Leah Jones  03:26

We've got very good food in Chicago.

 

Liz Nord 03:29

Just like this season. Like coming in spring.

 

Leah Jones  03:33

Yeah. No, don't come in the winter. Don't come in the winter. It's a great spring summer visit, absolutely. No spoilers but we're going to be talking documentaries. But I'm curious as we head into winter, and this will most likely be a Christmas episode. Do you have any winter repeat movies? Like any winter traditions that that are movie related?

 

Liz Nord 04:01

Oh, I love that question. I mean, winter is like primetime for movies. And obviously often like holiday stuff comes out on the big screen, which I will say that everything, all the recommendations I'm going to make today I know we're gonna get to talk about some films, I tried to find things that are very contemporary and all available on streaming. But I still believe in person in theater, film going experience, especially for the blockbusters. So I usually do try to get to some of the like ones that come out between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year to have that communal big screen, big audio experience. So this year, it was Wakanda Forever, the New Black Panther film and I feel like the Black Panther cannon as it grows will be an annual viewing because they're just so lush, and beautiful. They're not really your typical comic book movies and they have kind of a deeper meaning. But I love all that stuff. And I will say that the Harry Potter films always make a good seasonal, you can watch several. They all have, almost all of them have a Christmas scene or a winter season because they go through the school year. So those are always fun. And I'm a total Star Wars geek. So I'll revisit the films. Have to say not like loving all the series so much, even though I'm excited that they exist in the world. But I will always go back to the films, especially the originals.

 

Leah Jones  05:38

Yeah. I'll tell you. I saw Wakanda Forever a couple weeks ago. And I went and saw it in 4DX. Have you done that?

 

Liz Nord 05:52

What even is that?

 

Leah Jones  05:54

So 3D, right, three dimensions. 4D fourth dimension. It's the fourth-dimension experience. The chair is a roller coaster. Every four chairs are connected. And they tilt forward and back side-to-side. They vibrate. There's like a fan behind you. So if there's a breeze going through the jungle, it's a little breeze on your neck. If a bullet goes by your face, they do this like really quick puff of air past your neck. So you feel the bullet go by.  I went with my friend Ronnie, we had never gone before. We really didn't look into too much what 4DX was about. And we laughed hysterically through the whole movie, but the chairs….

 

Liz Nord 06:44

I feel like I'd be laughing the whole time. I wouldn't even be able to like..

 

Leah Jones  06:49

Don't do for the extra movie you want to emotionally connect to. So we felt very self-conscious being two white people in the middle of Black Panther : Wakanda Forever in Chicago as our chairs kept jolting us.

 

Liz Nord 07:06

Oh my god, you couldn't have been the only one’s, people must have been laughing.

 

Leah Jones  07:09

Luckily, it was a Tuesday or Thursday night. And it was it was there were only 10 of us maybe in the theater. And so we were all having our reactions. But I am very excited to see Avatar in 4DX themselves.

 

Liz Nord 07:24

That sounds like a good move for Avatar. For people that haven't seen Wakanda Forever is surprisingly emotional for a comic movie. Particularly because it's lead. The original Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, passed away between the first and second films and they honor him and his contribution to the film's right from the beginning. I mean, people in the theater when I thought were crying,

 

Leah Jones  07:52

Right, which is the appropriate emotion. But as his sister walks through the lab, and that first scene and your chair goes kaboom, kaboom with her steps. And your chair is moving with her steps. And you just start laughing from then. And it's not a laughing scene.

 

Liz Nord 08:12

No, I also feel not a great situation to have like popcorn on your lap.

 

Leah Jones  08:18

No, we did not. Thankfully, we did not get popcorn. There were people behind us who had like a soda. And I'm not kidding when I say I had to hold on for dear life to not get thrown out of the chairs at times.

 

Liz Nord 08:32

Oh my god. I don’t think, that's for me.

 

Leah Jones  08:36

I wish they would make like a 45-minute 4DX experience that was Star Wars battles.

 

Liz Nord 08:47

Like made for it that makes more sense. How they used to make films for the IMAX and they were so incredible in that environment. Now they just show regular films on IMAX, which always feels kind of weird to me.

 

Leah Jones  08:59

Yeah. So I'm not looking forward. That's how we're gonna see Avatar because otherwise I don't really care about seeing Avatar. But I have to say the 3D trailer for it before Wakanda Forever, it was a stunning use of 3D.

 

Liz Nord 09:16

I mean, that sounds pretty cool. And it's funny because like, we're talking about documentaries today. So I'm thinking about, what does this mean for a documentary? And I think what the documentaries that I really love are immersive, what they call immersive when you find yourself in this other world. But I don't know that like in a doc, you'd want to be as immersed as a 4DX experience. It's a funny to think about.

 

Leah Jones  09:42

I need more people to go, so I can talk to more people about how insane… I mean, you know the big fight on top of the ship in Wakanda Forever.  Your chair punches you in the back. As they're like fighting on top, feeling fists in your back.

 

Liz Nord 10:00

Yeah, I feel like goodbye unless it's like a massage. But you know…

 

Leah Jones  10:04

It's more like a sharper image massage chair, but it's happening as punches are landing on the screen.

 

Liz Nord 10:13

Oh my gosh.

 

Leah Jones  10:15

So I need more people to go talk to me about this ridiculous. I don't think you need a chair that moves as a reason to go to the theater. I think you need to be with people. Like I think the value of…

 

Liz Nord 10:31

I like the comfy chairs now that we back there's a lot to be said for it.

 

Leah Jones  10:38

Yeah. I mean, I went and saw Jackass Forever in theaters twice. Just to make sure I see it but with people,

 

Liz Nord 10:46

I would like to maybe unpack that with you another time.

 

Leah Jones  10:48

Yeah. What I'll say about Jackass is that, it is possibly one of the greatest documentaries about male friendship ever made. How about that?

 

Liz Nord 10:59

That is not what I ever would have expected you to say so. I'm color me intrigued!

 

Leah Jones  11:03

That they are, I think it's especially Jackass Forever because at this point, they've been doing it for 20 years. Everyone involved in the fourth movie, the Jackass guys, if they weren't sober, they weren't invited back like band's not there because bands not sober. And they've supported each other through sobriety, and through finding other businesses, through starting families. And, and there's, I mean, there are there's drinking on it because there's younger people. But there's really you don't often see on film, men who have been friends with each other for 20 years, working and laughing together, punching each other in the nuts and hugging it out. Like I felt like it was a really positive portrayal of an evolved male friendship.

 

Liz Nord 12:05

That is really cool. I love hearing that. And like note to self, definitely don't see that movie in 4DX.

 

Leah Jones  12:14

Absolutely not.

 

Liz Nord 12:15

Not my nuts punched?

 

Leah Jones  12:18

No. So when you come to Chicago, I'll take you to a movie at the music box. Which is one of our house. Amazing theaters still has an organ player, so there's organs. Organ player before the Saturday matinees. And I went, it's 700 people in the house. So I went there sold out for RRR.

 

Liz Nord 12:43

Oh, I've heard such good things about that movie. It's like on the list. It’s on my Winter list.

 

Leah Jones  12:49

Yeah. So I think it was the most incredible, probably live theater experience I've ever had in my whole life.

 

Liz Nord 12:58

Wow. Because people were so into it.

 

Leah Jones  13:01

People were cheering, clapping. I would say that and everything everywhere all at once. Which I also saw in a big theater sold out.

 

Liz Nord 13:10

That was a great one to see in the theater. So wild. Those guys, the Daniels, the filmmakers are really interesting. I interviewed them once. I used to run a website called No Film School, like by filmmakers, for filmmakers, and so interviewed lots of filmmakers. And those guys, the directors are these kind of young goofy guys. And they've done amazing work. Always pushing the envelope like they did with this film. And yeah, it's always nice when  filmmakers who seem good people are also doing well in the world, and their films are getting traction.

 

Leah Jones  13:48

Yeah, I'm glad to see that one getting the nominations. I think it deserved.

 

Liz Nord 13:53

Also, like Michelle Yeoh, she's just so rad. And the fact that she's now having big sort of second coming, even though she's been in the industry for what, like 40 years. Yeah, I mean, what a badass. I love her.

 

Leah Jones  14:06

Yeah, she's phenomenal. Yeah, I think our winter film traditions. Well, I'm Jewish. I'm the only converted, so my family is not Jewish. So when we go to my sister's home for Christmas, we watch Bad Santa, we watch elf Christmas vacation.

 

Liz Nord 14:31

I mean, I've seen them all. When you grow up Jewish in this country, you can't avoid Christmas. And some of them are really fun. I love I have a weak spot for Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.

 

Leah Jones  14:41

Yes. Yeah.

 

Liz Nord 14:43

I love Muppets.

 

Leah Jones  14:44

Yeah. And then my sister will play, she's gotten a really good Pandora station of like jazzy Christmas tune.

 

Liz Nord 14:54

Oh, can you send that to me?

 

Leah Jones  14:56

I will. Yeah.

 

Liz Nord 14:57

Do you love Christmas music as well? Much of what It was written by Jews. There's a documentary about it.

 

Leah Jones  15:02

Oh!

 

Leah Jones  15:16

Okay, Liz, as promised, we're here to talk about documentaries. But I wanted, and I know you have lots of great recommendations, which I am so excited for. But my first question is why documentaries? Do you remember seeing your first documentary? Or do you remember the first documentary that really punched you in the gut? And you're like, I got to know more about this?

 

Liz Nord 15:45

Oh, that's such a great question. I think like most people, although documentaries are much more prominent and available on all the streamers now.  When I was a kid, I never would have told you, Oh, I want to grow up and go into documentary because I thought documentaries were historical, boring things on PBS, or like nature docs, which are fun to watch, but not a career path for me. And then it's just like true crime, none of that really appealed to me. But the idea of documentary filmmaking and filmmaking was always exciting. Or actually, the idea of filmmaking itself was exciting. And that's what I originally went to undergrad for. I ended up leaving that major, and funnily enough, like I said, later, running a website called No Film School, and I'm still No Film School. But it was a strong interest. And then I ended up becoming a graphic designer, and then came back to filmmaking. But part of what got me back to it was that I am one of those people that other people just talk to, like strangers all the time, tell me their stories. So there was this one moment, I remember pretty clearly on the bus in San Francisco, where I used to live and where I started my doc career. I was in my early 20s and this woman on the bus who I did not make eye contact with, really had no reason to talk to me. But sat next to me and started telling me in detail about her recent divorce. I thought, I need to do something with this. This happens to me all the time, enough that I should go some direction. I mean, clearly, there's some kind of calling, Even when I'm not trying, people are divulging their lives to me. So yeah, I guess I could have gone toward like sociology or therapy, psychiatry. But I was already in the media making business. And it was wait a minute what makes sense. Let’s put all this together. Let people talk to me. I'll just turn on a camera. And that's kind of really how I became a documentary filmmaker. And of course, once I started learning more about the practice, I also watched tons of films, and learned, Oh, my God, there's this whole massive world of independent documentary films that I have not had much access to previously. And I was like, oh, this is something really different! These are emotionally resonant, relevant, beautiful films that aren't formulaic historical docs, and I don't need to be dissing historical docs. I actually think, especially now, there's historical docs or docs that cover historical topics that are really fascinating. But I think it's not this male narrator are telling you, blah… blah… blah… you feel like your history class.

 

Leah Jones  18:51

I would say that women of our age, we're women in our40s.

 

Liz Nord 18:57

Wow, I didn't know you were going to be divulging our age.

 

Leah Jones  19:03

Yeah, unless we are plus or minus 10 years.

 

Liz Nord 19:06

Yes. Right. Yep. Women in are 30s or 40s.

 

Leah Jones  19:10

As women in are 40s. We were primed for that stretch of PBS where a documentary was the Ken Burns multipart sepia tone documentary.

 

Liz Nord 19:24

100%. That's what I'm talking about.

 

Leah Jones  19:28

And that's all we knew . So absolutely. Like once you learn there's more than Ken Burns, there's a whole world of more than him.

 

Liz Nord 19:36

A massive world. And so people who might not be as familiar with the field, understand kind of generally what I'm talking about is that when I say an independent film. There's this independent space where an independent filmmaker, meaning they're not necessarily tied to a studio, or anything like that. They've raised their own money or they've gotten financing outside of a streamer or studio so that they can follow their own whims and storytelling instincts.  That's where a lot of films that I'm interested in, the people that I cover and work with, and promote and everything. But that's the space that we live in. And to go back to your other questions. So I started exploring the field, I took a couple of classes in San Francisco, at a place that no longer exists. But it was a wonderful organization called the Film Arts Foundation, where you could just show up and learn to use a camera without having to go to graduate school or anything. I started attending, getting involved in the local film scene in San Francisco, which was pretty robust at the time, and starting to attend the festivals. And a couple that do stand out in those early years, in terms of film experiences, where I was like, I want to do this. One was at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, probably in 2004ish. I made my first film in 2005. There was a film called Trembling Before God, which someone who's now a good friend Sandy Loski made and was pivotal doc about Orthodox Jews who are gay, coming out and/or figuring out how to navigate their worlds where that wasn't as acceptable of a lifestyle or wasn't acceptable at all. And I saw the film live with an audience at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. And in the film, itself one of the characters face is blurred, you can't see them, because it would be dangerous or uncomfortable. They couldn't really be on film recognizably. So we saw the film, it was really moving. And then that character, came out on stage first time publicly, showing her face and saying, I'm gay. And the audience went freaking bananas, understandably. And it was so moving. And so like, oh, this is what a documentary can be and can do. And I want to be part of that.

 

Leah Jones  22:07

And that it can be contemporary. It can be things of the moment, and not just 100 plus years ago, piecing together through archival footage,

 

Liz Nord 22:19

And that film followed these it's protagonists in their daily life, it's very present, very of the moment. So that was really cool. And other one was at South by Southwest, which became kind of my annual pilgrimage after the first year I went, which probably was 2005ish. And then I went 10, or somewhere between 10 and 15 more years after that. But the first year I was like this is so cool! Because I went and declared, I'm a filmmaker.  I went to this film festival, film and media and everything festival and I was like, I too am a filmmaker. And I saw the premiere of Morgan Spurlock Super Size Me. I mean, the film is fine. It's debatable. People love it, they hate it. That festival happens in Austin, Texas. The crowds are super enthusiastic. They screen at this really cool movie theater called the Alamo Drafthouse that serves beer and everything while you're watching the films. And again the beauty of going to film festivals is that often the filmmaker is there. So saw the film, Morgan Spurlock shows up. Since then he's become very famous. But this was his first documentary of note. Again, audience was so wild. And that Austin crowd is so enthusiastic. And I just thought, wasn't as much about the content of the film. But I was like, oh, this is the rock star I want to be. I don't want to be I've never aspired to be in a band or whatever. But that's the Rockstar, I want to be. The one that shows their film to this rapidly enthusiastic crowd and gets to talk about it. And that film will then live on and have its own life and trajectory and influence in the world. That was super exciting to me.

 

Leah Jones  24:11

Wow. Those are two…. Somebody's ringing my doorbell.

 

Liz Nord 24:20

Like I heard a doorbell. Okay, so you were saying those are two, we talked about Super Size Me for that. And you said those are two really?

 

Leah Jones  24:30

Yeah. And then the doorbell rang and my brain went.. boom! I'm just thinking about I have also gotten to meet Sandy from Trembling Before God. I think I met him at maybe at the conversation. So we're Facebook friends, we're acquaintances, we're not friends. But certainly that piece resonated through the Jewish community continues to resonate. And then Morgan Spurlock Super Size Me, it was such a massive global sensation.

 

Liz Nord 25:02

That's one of the ones that kind of put more modern documentaries on the map.

 

Leah Jones  25:05

Yeah. There's still a role for sometimes investigative, sometimes experiential, documentary making. But I don't know, I just love that those were theater experiences for you.

 

Liz Nord 25:24

Yeah. And also what I thought you were gonna say, when you said, when you were coming to films is that I think it also kind of proves my point, even though I do want to talk about more modern films. But just like those are part of a modern wave. And they're two totally different films in tone, in style and structure. And neither of them is what one might have historically expected when they heard the word documentary.

 

Leah Jones  25:48

So you go to South by Southwest, you stake your claim, I am a filmmaker. And then you make your first you are your first director, the first producer. Are you like on the crew have a document I know. I said, I wasn't gonna make you talk about your career the whole time. But I guess I've never gotten to ask you some of these questions. We've known each other so long, but I've never said, because I remember you literally carrying a camera. Wasn't the exact Zachary Tim, was he your camera guy on one of your Jerusalem movies?

 

Liz Nord 26:29

Oh, no, we never worked together. But we had people in common. And when I moved to New York, he was one of the first people that helped me get into the New York Film Scene as part of a collective called the Film Shop. But I don't think that's that relevant. But I was filming in Jerusalem, another project in Jerusalem, a few years later when we might have seen each other at the Union. So early in my career, I was taking those classes in San Francisco, I decided instead of going to grad school, I would buy a camera and make myself into a filmmaker. I always tell people this, because there's so much about believing and putting out there that you are doing this thing, whatever it is and echo have created a lot. And at that South by Southwest, I had already started making Derrick Rose Echo. So I really was in the process of making a film, but I made myself a business card. We used to do that. And it said, Liz Nord Filmmaker, and as soon as I put it on paper, and told people, it felt real and it became more real which is pretty cool. And I still need to remind myself of that. Sometimes 20 years into my career, I still get impostor syndrome. It happens. But when I really started before making a feature documentary, I was doing what is called Video Activism. So kind of documenting stuff that is happening in the community, was sort of an activist bent. And around that time was when the Iraq war was starting. And I lived in San Francisco, which is a very progressive place. And so we were doing, I was part of a group called Street Level TV. And we had a show on the cable access in San Francisco. I would go and film Iraq war protests, and things of that nature. So I started out pretty scrappy right out there, literally in the streets.

 

Leah Jones  28:33

I really didn’t know that. That's so cool.

 

Liz Nord 28:37

It was cool. Looking back on it. Yeah, it was a moment for sure. I think what's important to notice that it just wasn't so common then. You don't really need video activists anymore because everybody has a camera and is documenting whatever is going on around them. Thank goodness that, for example, police brutality has now come much more to light because people with cell phones have just exposed that. But at that time, cell phones didn't even have video cameras. It's amazing, because not that long ago. But so it took people like us to actually go out there with cameras and make sure to be noting this stuff.

 

Leah Jones  29:22

It was really important. Because everybody couldn't document. It's wild. Things have changed so much.

 

Liz Nord 29:31

And that's part of what's been so exciting about being in this field, is that it has just changed so rapidly and documentaries have become so much more ubiquitous and your listeners can go see all sorts of fascinating stuff that wasn't really out there before. If you didn't go to the art house or you weren't part of an educational institution that had a DVD. It's amazing.

 

Leah Jones  29:58

So I want to ask you about if you're going to a film festival, which I know you often do. How are you approaching the documentary slate? Assuming you're not a judge, are you looking for topics that you like? Are you looking for filmmakers you've heard of? How do you start to prioritize a festival slate?

 

Liz Nord 30:23

Well, that's a great question because I've been as an audience, and I've also been as press. And so it really had to study the programs and figure that out, how to navigate all that. But when I'm not going as press which of course, most people wouldn't be going, I actually love to be surprised. SAnd that's one of the amazing things, especially going to a festival like Sundance. Because Sundance happens in January. And that means eat, of course, it's the head of the year, it's also the head of the film gear. And it requires not all festivals do of course, but Sundance requires that you're having your films premiere. So that means if your film has played anywhere else, but at least in North America, it wouldn't be eligible for Sundance. So that means as audiences, you have this real gift of going to see films that you just haven't heard much about yet. And so I usually do a combination of at this point, I know so many filmmakers, which is another just great privilege. So I'll try to see films by people I know and to support them. And sometimes I just go blind, whatever let's just give this a shot. That's why we're here. And that's always really fun. And then I like to kind of look outside the box. There are some films that you know when you go to a festival are going to have distribution, or they're already, for example, a Netflix film. So you know it's going to be on Netflix, or it's such a big-name director that it'll definitely get out there to the public. So often look for the films by say a first-time filmmaker or just something slightly less obscure or that hasn't secured distribution yet. So that I can make sure to try to see that film when I get the chance.

 

Leah Jones  32:23

Because you're trying to see the things that you might not have another opportunity in theater to see.

 

Liz Nord 32:30

That's right. And while this whole conversation might not feel like super relevant to everyone because you can't necessarily go to film festivals, I would highly recommend that people seek out festivals in their area. Because film festivals are so ubiquitous now that there's often small local film festivals, almost everywhere. And especially because of the pandemic, a lot of the big festivals are now making some of the films available streaming. So Sundance this year, which is coming up in January, you can buy tickets to some of the premieres online, which is pretty freaking cool. If you're sitting in Idaho and would never get yourself to Sundance actually, it isn't that far from Sundance. But if you're sitting in Maine, and I couldn't get yourself to Sundance or didn't have really a reason to go to Sundance, you can see some of these films, which I think is really one of the silver linings, I guess of the pandemic. Obviously, I rather would have not had the pandemic but this is one of those outgrowths that is positive.

 

Leah Jones  33:34

Yeah, that some things have become more accessible.

 

Liz Nord 33:40

Yes, and literally more accessible. For example, Sundance again, never did closed captioning on the live screenings. So it cut out a whole audience that required a deaf audience, for example, that would require closed captioning. And now you can stream with closed captioning for premiere, which is pretty special.

 

Leah Jones  34:02

That is really special. Wow!

 

Leah Jones  34:17

Well, let's get into some of your recommendations. I know you've been working on the list. So when you started thinking about, I want to tell people to watch these documentaries. How do you categorize documentaries? Are you like these are shorts, these are long, these are men, these are like, how do you categorize it? Or are you just this is what I'm loving right now.

 

Liz Nord 34:45

That is a great question. I'm a category person, a kind of list organizing person. I guess that comes from my producing background. So I do categorize and I will say I'm glad you brought up shorts because I did not really include shorts on this list. Let me tell you, this is finding favorites right, so it's so hard to find my favorites. Guys I've seen like 9 billion documentaries and so already narrowing down Long's as I love that you say Long's, I think the appropriate term is feature length but long is awesome. I'm used to it from now on. So my list that I really came up with to talk about today are Long's, but I think shorts are a really fun way to get into doc's if you're listening to this, and you're, oh, yeah, I was one of those people that thought documentaries we're boring. Shorts are such a great way in and I really actually think it's kind of the golden age of the short documentary. And people can see shorts, of course online. And if you want things more curated, there are a lot of ways to see shorts that someone else has already gone through. And the great thing about a short is, if you don't like it, like it's going to be over soon. So there's sites, for example, New York Times Op Docs. I mean, that's so well curated. There's some that are less well known, like one called Short of the Week. It's a website and another one called Leto. I'll send you the links to share with everybody. But there's some amazing places where you can watch really high-quality documentary shorts, online.

 

Leah Jones  36:21

Cool. I know that sometimes in festivals, well, I don't think there's a sometimes because it's hard to move people. Moving bodies is complicated. They'll do a shorts block. So you'll go in and you'll watch 3 to 10 shorts.

 

Liz Nord 36:40

Yeah, that’s very common. And there's usually several blocks. I mean, imagine this, I know I keep talking about Sundance, but it's because that's where most recently I worked for the past four years. But they saw the shorts programmers there. They say that they watch every single submission, which is an incredible feat. Because there are almost 10,000 Short submissions a year. So that the ones that get through that gate, or whatever are like going to be pretty strong. But there's this kind of way I say it's a golden age of shorts, because there's just so many people making shorts now that the gear and the analogy is so much more accessible. That means there's a lot more crap out there. But it also means there's a lot greater stuff. And I'll make one other note too, because I think this episode is going to come out soon.

 

Leah Jones  37:32

Christmas morning. People will unwrap this on Christmas morning.

 

Liz Nord 37:39

So it's a perfect time to mention that also every year, the Oscars puts in I don't know who actually makes it but somebody makes on behalf of the Oscars, the Oscar nominated shorts programs in theaters across the country. I always have so much fun watching those. And then when you watch the Oscars, you actually know what the shorts are. So I would recommend that folks look in their local theaters for the Oscar nominated shorts programs. And there's usually the documentary one has its own screening. I love going to the best animated shorts nominations and the best live action shorts, as well. So that's always a fun thing to do in January and early February.

 

Leah Jones  38:23

Those are for sure available in Chicago. And you don't have to be in a major city. You just have to be in a town with a theater with somebody who loves movies, and still loves movies, and you'll get the chance to see.

 

Liz Nord 38:36

So to get back to your question.

 

Leah Jones  38:39

Tell me about your Longs.

 

Liz Nord 38:41

Yes, my Longs. So the way that I thought about categories was almost in opposition to the categories that we talked about earlier like the typical categories of historical, animal, true crime, those are categories, but there's all these other categories. And of course you could split out by gender, country, whatever, that's also really interesting. But my categories are and I think some of them are accepted in the industry as categories. So I ended coming up with a bunch of categories. I'm trying to figure out how to even narrow down to share with everyone because this could take all day. So I'm gonna start and we'll see where we get. But because we had talked about Trembling Before God and Super Size Me earlier, maybe I'll bring us up-to-date on some more kind of contemporary doc's that are in those general categories. So for example, Trembling Before God, it might feel all into the modern like observational or cinema verité category, and or the character centered doc, there's a lot of overlap between the two of those. But like cinema verité is the classic documentary mode if folks have heard of Albert Maysles, and the Maysles brothers and other really famous longtime documentarian, that's this idea of the quote unquote, Fly On The Wall. But more contemporary filmmakers have acknowledged that you're not really a Fly On The Wall. But being in the room, changes the room a little bit.  So these are observational documentaries, meaning the cameras just turned on, and you're watching life. But just with a little more self-awareness by the filmmakers.

 

Leah Jones  40:52

And so does that mean that there's not like a voice over telling you, you as the viewer are learning the story based on the scenes that I mean, cinema verité. That's like true cinema verité?

 

Liz Nord 41:12

Yeah. Truth is what he was talking about, like documentaries are supposed to expose some kind of truth. But then that gets really muddy too. Because exactly like we said, well, there's a filmmaker in the room. Is everything really true? I will say that part of the reason I love documentaries and why they're favorites is because so often the story behind the scenes is just as interesting as the story in front of the camera. Of course, the audience doesn't always learn those but even though these are verité, they're meant to really feel true to life, and you're watching this thing unfold. They're usually hundreds of hours of footage taken for a 90-minute talk. So it is a true story that's unfolding before your eyes. But it has been very edited to create a compelling story out of all this mundane stuff that happens in life. So one of the ones I love was Oscar nominated a couple years ago, The Truffle Hunters. This was directed by two guys, Michael Dirac and Gregory Kershaw. And it's basically about men, old dudes in Italy, who are truffle hunters. They are searching, for their job is to go into the forests of Italy with their dogs. It's actually not boars or pigs that they use with their very sweet dogs and seek out truffles. And it's an example of why would I ever watch? That sounds so boring. But somehow the filmmakers have found these delightful characters and created these scenes that are just so beautiful to watch. And what's so amazing about dogs, that you get this really, really up close and intimate peek into a world you just never would have known about. And it's really funny and delightful. Like there's one guy in the film where his dog, his truffle hunting dog is really his BFF. He lives alone with the dog. He feeds the dog at the dinner table, they sit there every night, chatting away. And during the day, they go out and search for these extremely rare, extremely valuable truffles.  It's just this little slice of life that is so delightful. And again these filmmakers just watch these guys. There's a little bit of voiceover sometimes it's common, where there's not a narrator, but the voiceover might come from the protagonists themselves. So they might be talking you through what they had done, or the song that you're watching. And you get to know them a little bit that way. But then that also crosses over to this kind of character-based documentary. So in The Truffle Hunters, they are characters and I would say is not a really PC word to use anymore in the dark world, their protagonist, their participants. So they like yes, we're watching their lives, but it's more about the scene and the situation and the lifestyle and their little stories and then their character center docs, which are really focusing on one person, and they're fascinating trajectory. So it's funny I did not realize this when I was making the list, but I'm having an old man moment, because one of the characters center docs that came to mind was another Oscar nominated doc by a female Chilean filmmaker, but actually know how to pronounce her name. It’s Maite Alberdi. She made this film called The Mole agent. Did you hear about this one? Okay, so again, another old guy story. So it is basically, this lonely old man is at home alone. And he gets this invitation or he sees a notice tacked up, I don't remember how he found out about it. But he basically found out that a local detective agency was looking for an elderly detective, to infiltrate a nursing home to see if they could find signs of abuse. To this guy, like try out, and he gets in, he gets the part. And he's trains as a secret agent. Basically, this whole new lease on life. But what happens without giving too much away, is that even though he's there as this like investigator, he also is an old person in this old person's residence. And everyone falls in love with him. And he becomes and some of them literally, I don't know, if you've ever been to an assisted living kind of place but there's often many more women than men, just from…

 

Leah Jones  46:09

I was at my great aunt's funeral and my uncle Jimmy could still drive and he was a charming man. And there were women who had been waiting since high school for him to be single again at the funeral with casseroles.

 

Liz Nord 46:22

As a side note, I also was that I visited my wonderful aunt, before she passed away, several times at one of these places, and I brought my boyfriend at the time with me once. And this older lady, basically hit on him by pulling up the bottom of her pants and showing off her ankle and was a sailor, whatever. I don't even know what you said. But my aunt was so horrified. And she called her a slut. Anyway so that's the thing. And so at this place, this guy becomes the most popular guy. And then the detective agency is don't forget to do your job. It's just this is one of those Stranger Than Fiction, half the time, you're watching and going is this made up? Is this scripted? And this can't be real. But it's real. And that's the kind of doc I really love. And again, the guy's just so charming. And it's such a funny premise, but also bittersweet. And I think that's the other thing about doc's why I love them so much is that because they're real life. If they're done well and reflect real life, they often have that bittersweet feeling because in real life, there's joy and pain. There's also joy and pain in docs, which is what I think real narrative films, fictional films are often trying to achieve. So yeah, should I keep going?

 

Leah Jones  48:00

Yes, you should keep going. I'm googling these as you're talking and they are all adorable old men.

 

Liz Nord 48:07

I know it's fun. I'm going to change track.

 

Leah Jones  48:12

Okay. Look, here's the thing, if it turns out that your favorite thing are adorable, old men in foreign countries, with funny hobbies or with interesting hobbies, that's fine.

 

Liz Nord 48:25

I am a daddy's girl and my dad is 91 so maybe it's a thing. But a different direction although there are old men and this next suggestion but they are not nice old men. So no funny enough now, I set this up like in such an opposite

 

Leah Jones  48:53

Like oh, now they're not as bad, they're not Nazis. They are bad guys. Well they're not Nazis.

 

Liz Nord 48:57

Yeah, that's true. But also the hilarious part about this would you have no way of knowing is that this category is feel good docs. The other I don’t want to say misconception because it’s a real thing that so many documentaries, especially today are like about very urgent and very dark social issues, that it’s critical that these films exist, and they often move the needle and create real social change and I’m 100% for it, and it’s just not for everyone. And in fact, it’s often not for me. I told you earlier, I love Star Wars and stuff I don't always want to watch the heaviest saddest thing in the world. So believe it or not, there are a whole bunch of feel-good inspirational documentaries. Again could go on all day, but the one I am going to talk about it's called The Eagle Huntress. And this one's on Disney. This is definitely easily accessible. The Director Otto Bell, my friend Stacy Reese is the producer. And this is a really cool dark part of author. What's cool about it, I would say is that not all documentaries are family appropriate. And this one is, as I mentioned it's a Disney film, so you can watch it with kids, although it's subtitled. So either you'll need to help little kids with that or your kids have to be old enough to read. But anyway, it is about a 13-year old girl. Aisholpan Nurgaiv is her name. And she comes from a very, they're in Kazakhstan in the mountains of Kazakhstan. She comes from 12 generations of Eagle Hunters. So this is like a big deal in the mountains. And no boys have ever left, excuse me, no girls have ever been trained as Eagle Hunters. But she's the only daughter, her dad's a champion Eagle Hunter. And she wants to be trained. And he says, yes. And the elders, this is where the bad men come in. The elders of the community are like no fucking way. That is not acceptable. And the dad is like, you know what we're gonna do this. And it's this amazing story of basically she becomes a total champion. She follows in her father's footsteps and becomes this badass Eagle Huntress. And again at 13 she's this little tiny girl. And eagles are big and scary and have claws. And hunting doesn't mean that they kill them. I mean, I won't get into all the logistics. But basically, she's getting these huge eagles to come and land on her arm while she's riding a horse. And the mission is crazy. It's amazing to watch. It's super heartwarming, especially for the daddy's girls out there. And it is beautifully shot. This is one of those stories where the behind the scenes is just as interesting which I actually didn't plan on plugging things, but I had interviewed the filmmaker. I can send you a link to the video from No Film School because they had to bring something I don't remember an absurd amount of gear 2000 pounds worth of gear on a helicopter to the mountains of Kazakhstan to get these incredible wintry mountain shots. In action shots requires a special type of attention to be able to capture again the eagle, the horse that it's not just like standing, pointing a camera at someone for an interview. So anyway, that one was just super fun and not necessarily expected.

 

Leah Jones  52:57

And I'm clicking through the photographs on IMDb

 

Liz Nord 53:01

Oh, do you see her? Do you see Aisholpan Nurgaiv?

 

Leah Jones  53:04

These eagles are half her size!

 

Liz Nord 53:06

This is what I'm saying. People have no idea how big a frigging eagle is.

 

Leah Jones  53:10

I guess it would say like half her height. But her torso is the size of an eagle they are. They could just say we're hunting you! They are huge.

 

Liz Nord 53:21

And that's why it's a challenge. And imagine their wingspan, turn them on their side. They're probably taller than she is. So that is a rad movie. You got a power situation.   Should I keep going?

 

Leah Jones  53:38

Yes, yes. So these are so that I'm just clicking through the photographs. And the stills are just stunning.

 

Liz Nord 53:49

It's so beautifully shot. And it's also such a beautiful environment. And similar to The Truffle Hunters, most of us will never go there. We will never know what that world is. And here we get this totally into it. And it's funny you said that about the photographs, because if I recall correctly, the reason they even made the film is because the filmmaker saw a photograph of her with eagles, and was like, what is this?! The fun thing about being a documentary filmmaker is that real life is always happening. So you're constantly coming up with ideas are being fed ideas, because you just opened the newspaper and there's probably several potential films in there.

 

Leah Jones  54:40

Oh my gosh, and she and her dad went to Telluride with their eagles. Oh, I didn't know that picture of them in front of the Telluride Film Festival banner, like Main Street. Telluride, the two of them just with their eagles and Main Street.

 

Liz Nord 54:57

Oh, that is too cool, and it makes some of his tally rides on Mountain Film Festival? That's funny.

 

Leah Jones  55:04

Okay, moving on. I'm watching this one tonight. I'm ordering Thai food and I'm watching The Eagle Huntress,

 

Liz Nord 55:11

Although a Mongolian restaurant in your area that might be more perfect. I love that you have to report back. And I should also just say it I'm sure people already expect this. But in all of these categories, I also had several recommendations. So I'm really working hard to just pick one.

 

Leah Jones  55:30

So and here's what I'll say. It's called Finding Favorites because it's a covered name, but it could have been called something you love. Because sometimes people really are worried about upsetting the things they didn't pick. Sometimes, because they know human beings who made the things they didn't pick, and sometimes it's because

 

Liz Nord 55:51

I'm talking to my filmmaker friends. I also loved your film, I promise.

 

Leah Jones  55:56

Yes, yes. So to all the filmmakers listening today, this is finding favorites. Calling something you love. So Liz loves you, even if she didn't name you, and you can come on my podcast in the future and rebuked her.

 

Liz Nord 56:16

What a great idea! I love that good documentary filmmakers always about the stories. Okay, so I want to bring up another category, because we talked earlier about the shifting of the times, and how so many more people have the opportunity to document life around them and their own lives now, and that there have always been personal documentaries. There's always been people telling their own story, or their family stories. But it's become so much more common in an era when we can constantly document ourselves. And even people our age our parents might have been VHS taping our lives. And so now someone could have had their whole life basically documented, and maybe make a film about it. And of course some of them are really self-indulgent. But many of them are really, really good. So one of them I want to talk about is coming out. I'm excited to talk about it, because it's making debut right now. It's out there right now. And it's actually in full transparency. I did give notes on a cut of this film. But I'm really proud because it's by a brand-new filmmaker, David Siev. And it's literally winning all the awards. It just won a Critics Choice Award last week. So the film, it's a weird one to say out loud. But it's called Bad Axe, not badass. Bad Axe. Which is the name of a town in Michigan, FYI. Oh, so this is a very American very timely story about this guy, David Steve's family. And they live in this rural Michigan town called Bad Axe. And they are Asian American. And they own a restaurant. And the pandemic comes. And as we all know, there was a huge rash of anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic. Because for a lot of reasons, but in part because it was we were touting this idea that it came from China and Trump was calling it the China Flu and there was a huge uptick in abusive incidents against Asian Americans. I mean, the irony is that we're so friggin ignorant in this country, like his family's not from China, they're from Cambodia. But it didn't matter. So they were Asian American, and they were on one hand facing all this flak from the community. And on the other hand, there were a lot of community members that hadn’t come to the restaurant for a long time and really came to support them. Because it was also regardless of their family background, just keeping a restaurant alive during the pandemic, when restaurants were closing left and right. And it was hard to get supplies and people didn't want to come eat in person. It's just like, what an incredible story that only this guy could have told. Because it's his family in this very unique situation. That also was indicative of what so many other people were going through. So I love that kind of doc to where it's a very specific story, but has a more universal or more widely understood kind of message. So it's just really this American family's story, and it's beautifully done. And again, people are really responding to it. So I'm excited. Also to have known this filmmaker in his early stages and see kind of where he's gonna go with his career. So anyway, it's out in theaters now.

 

Leah Jones  1:00:15

Well January 5, that it will be at the Gordon center in Lake Forest, Illinois at 7pm. So I searched it, and Google always wants to help you see something. So it immediately was showtimes in your Chicago. So it is showing. So people search it on Fandango and see if you can find it when it's coming to your town.

 

Liz Nord 1:00:36

For sure. I mean, that's exciting, too, because not all docs even get theatrical distribution. And if you can't see it, or if it's not in your town, this one, again, because of all the acclaim and momentum it has, we'll definitely be coming out on streaming. So that's that what I realized? It's funny because obviously, I'm a female filmmaker, I am very active in movements to raise up female bipoc filmmakers. And I even am like a really early kind of founding member of a group called Film Fee Towels, which is really for female directors. I have not talked about one female director yet. Like I said, it's like its guy day for me. But there are so many amazing female docs, female fronted docs out there. Oh, I didn't say my friend, Stacy produced Eagle Huntress, but that is she's not the director. So I will talk about one of my favorite filmmakers in general, but like her stuff is out there. So, this is for people that like something a little more unusual, this category is an up and coming. One, it's becoming much more like prevalent in the field. And it's called hybrid that comes from a lot of different things, but it's essentially like it comes from the idea of being a hybrid between a fictional and a documentary film. So what it is I told you earlier that I like to check out the films that are kind of like playing with form that are doing something a little different, that are maybe pushing the envelope and these are these are documentaries that are pushing the envelope where, it's asking the question, like, what is real what is documentary? Often, they're kind of poetic. So, this filmmaker she's an Israeli American filmmaker named Alma Har’el. She also directs fiction work, which I think informs some of this. But basically, she has made a couple of films that are like in this this world of this hybrid world worth mentioning and that are available are Bombay Beach, and Love True and apparently by the way, it was so she directed the film Honey Land, and that Honey Land, oh my gosh, Honey Boy. Now Honey Land is another film on my list. That's fun. Anyway, Honey Boy is a fictional account, but like, it's like hybrid in the other way. It's a fiction film, but it comes from the true story of like, Shia LaBeouf’s life. Shia LaBeouf, contacted her to work together after seeing Bombay Beach. Okay, it was like this is this is so fascinating. So, her first feature doc is called Bombay Beach. A more recent one is called Love True. And both of them are worth mentioning. Because basically, they're just like super creative in that. They are documentaries. They're kind of like the Verity style, you're watching people's lives unfold. But they break out into these constructed formats. In the middle of the film, when you're like totally not expecting it like what the hell is going on, which I kind of like. So in Bombay Beach, for example, there are dance numbers. So, it's not a film about dance and it's not a film about dancers. It's like if you've heard of what of the place Bombay Beach, it's like this super poor community in Southern California, that is like, on the shores of the Salton Sea, which is a man-made sea in the middle of the desert, actually, it's in Colorado or California. Anyway, it's a man-made sea that used to be this vacation destination. And now I have to say I love the description on IMDb. I wouldn't normally just read you the description but the IMDb description says that the Salton Sea used to be a beautiful destination vacation for the privileged and is now a pool of dead fish. So anyway, she's just documenting the lives of these people that you know some people that live in this wild place, but in the middle of scenes of just like of their lives, there's like these breakout dance numbers that she worked on them with. She worked with them on and on. Guess it was a way to like express their internal dialogue and their thoughts and feelings. Like it's still documentary in that, like, you're still getting to know these real people in their real lives. But she's  expressing who they are in a way that's constructed. And this sounds maybe a little bit esoteric, but I just find it so interesting. And the way she does it is like really, really cool. And in Love True, it's kind of similar. It's a movie about love. And she's following three love stories. And that love is very broadly defined. It's not necessarily a typical love story, but in that one, she used some devised theater, kind of like psychiatry techniques, and had the characters kind of recreate, theatrically recreate some of their own stories. So again, in the middle of what feels like a typical cinema Veritate documentary, it breaks out into these scenes where you're like, What the hell? Like you're kind of watching someone's dream happening on screen, starring them.  She's just interesting. So I recommend checking her work.

 

Leah Jones  1:06:16

Also, her website is wild.

 

Liz Nord 1:06:19

Oh, I am in it. But I know she does a lot of weed.

 

Leah Jones  1:06:24

It's a lot of like, multi layered it's got a real Myspace vibe.

 

Liz Nord 1:06:24

Oh, fun Myspace. Wow!

 

Leah Jones  1:06:25

And also she could play Tori Amos in a movie.

 

Liz Nord 1:06:42

Yes, sidenote, she's gorgeous. Yeah like amazing skin. It's anyway.

 

Liz Nord 1:06:56

Can I do like two more?

 

Leah Jones  1:07:02

Two more to bring us home?

 

Liz Nord 1:07:06

So what I'm gonna do is because I'm thinking these are all kind of like, serious. I don't want to end on a total serious note. But I do want to bring up one more probably the most serious one that I have. And then we'll end with fun. How's that? Okay, so the other I think very like typical, oh, this is a documentary is a biopic like, it's a story about someone's life. And we've had these in pop culture to forever like you think of behind the music or something. Like I've been cool ones. I think the biopic has gotten much more creative in recent years and one that I really just loved and was so gutting just it's a hard watch, it's not a light watch, and it's not children appropriate. But it's called I Am Not Your Negro. And it's a 2016 documentary, actually made by a Haitian filmmaker, Raoul Peck. And what's so interesting about this is the subject is James Baldwin. If people don't know him, he's a very prolific American Black American writer and kind of civil rights activist. And before he died, he had an unfinished manuscript. About several other civil rights leaders who he was in the circles with in the social circles with Medgar Evers and Malcolm X and MLK, of these like, really pivotal figures in in civil rights in this country and he never finished the book. So, this filmmaker, I don't exactly know how he came upon the manuscript. But he essentially finished the book for James Baldwin, by creating this film.  This film is like the film version realization from another creative of this other creative’s work, which in itself is like such an interesting concept. And he did this with just incredible archival footage, but also really beautiful graphics and this amazing kind of narration voiceover by Samuel L. Jackson. And it's just really lyrical and it's such an unusual, it's such a unique film that it's hard to describe, but it also is going through some of America's most challenging social moments. And then resonates so sharply still today, the issues that are covered, then it's just like, it feels so relevant, but it's also just an incredible watch.

 

Leah Jones  1:09:51

I remember when it came out, but I don't think I knew it was about James Baldwin. But I didn't hear any of that backstory about it? I guess I just thought it was a straight up biopic.

 

Liz Nord 1:10:08

Which is why I am bringing it up. And also people just want like fun and more standard, but holiday watch type. biopic. I really love the partnership. Also, these are friends but um, Julie Cohen and Betsy West, they have created this whole canon of documentaries about badass women. So probably a lot of people have heard of RBG the film RBG that got such a big a lot of attention about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

 

Leah Jones  1:10:41

I saw that one. And I saw that one in the theaters where we're in the last row at the top of the theater because it was sold out.

 

Liz Nord 1:10:42

Oh, my gosh did you love it?

 

Leah Jones  1:10:45

Yeah, it was really interesting. That's when I mean, she was still alive when that came out. It was right.

 

Liz Nord 1:10:57

Yeah. I saw it premiered at Sundance, and she came. It was awesome. But anyway, they've also made these other films about like Julia Childs and civil rights activist Polly Murray and the most recent one is about Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Congresswoman who got shot. And they're just pretty serious. But they have this kind of women biopic genre going, and they're really good at it. So those are, just another sort of recommend on the completely opposite side of the spectrum. Up to wrap up on a fun note, I have to go full circle because my first doc Jericho’s Echo was a music documentary, like I said about the punk scene in Tel Aviv. And music talks are really my first love and I didn't really talk too much about them. Because that could have been a subset of Finding Favorites. We could have done a whole episode on music docs. So, I will just say, everybody knows what a music documentary is. There's tons out there. And they're so fun. And my bone to pick with music documentaries, the ones I don't like, or where the documentary doesn't meet the excitement of the music and the movement it's part of is more interesting than the documentary itself. There's a range. And there's a lot of those, but there are also so many good ones. One of the most recent, that has gotten tons of attention. It's on Hulu is Summer of Seoul.

 

Leah Jones  1:12:27

Okay, no.

 

Liz Nord 1:12:28

So, this is cool. This is the first feature directed by Questlove of the musician from The Roots and now he's like Mr. filmmaker he's got several projects in the works, apparently. But this is fascinating, because it is about the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. It was a series of concerts that happen in Harlem in New York City where I live in ’69. Around the same exact time Woodstock was going on. And it's kind of fascinating, because we haven't really heard about the rights. And yet it was a festival where some of the most influential musicians of our time played, but they were black, and just never got the traction even though of course, Jimi Hendrix and others played at Woodstock. But this was homegrown festival that was just incredible.

 

Leah Jones  1:13:24

Over the course of six weeks, it was the whole summer! That’s amazing.

 

Liz Nord 1:13:28

It was this ongoing series of concerts. And like all over the map, in terms of the types of music that were that were played, but this is one of those another kind of behind the scenes is so interesting. Essentially, somebody filmed it for public television. Nothing ever really came of it, the boxes sat in someone's basement, or somebody was cleaning up the typical story, they found these rolls of film are, Hey, what's this? And basically, essentially, ultimately, Questlove was handed this material. I bet you'll be interested in this. And he made this just film where you're holy shit this was pivotal cultural moment that we're finding out about now. 50 years later and some of the footage is just so amazing. And these artists that are so ubiquitous, now you're seeing them and they're really young days and you're seeing huge crowds, huge black crowds and Harlem, just loving it, loving the summer. We so often see about the social unrest of that time. So, it's really beautiful to see just people loving it and having a great time and it doesn't feel any kind of way other than this is beautiful and musical and soulful and fun. So that one is just a fun watch and an eye-opening watch as well. And then there’s a million music documentaries. So, I recommend kind of poking into that genre for people, it's another one of where if you haven't watched a lot of documentaries, it's a good entry point. It's an accessible kind of sub-genre.

 

Leah Jones  1:15:17

This is such you've given us such a good list of things to watch on winter break.

 

Liz Nord 1:15:22

I was so excited about that. And I'm so excited that we did this and that, you've given me so much time to chat about favorites, and I love it. You're one of my favorites. So, all works out well.

 

Leah Jones  1:15:35

I can't wait till I get to see you again. I gotta get to New York next year.

 

Liz Nord 1:15:39

One of us will get to the other place. Or maybe we should go meet in the Bahamas? I don't know.

 

Leah Jones  1:15:44

I mean, also that yeah, also the Bahamas.

 

Liz Nord 1:15:47

Anyway, so yeah. So, I will be happy to send you some links to these films and if the if the world demands it, if your crowd wants more recommendations, I can also send a list for the site.

 

Leah Jones  1:15:58

Amazing. Where can people find you on the internet?

 

Liz Nord 1:16:03

Oh, that's fun. I mean, I’m at liznord.com. That's probably the easiest way I'm really into photography, street photography, and no casual photography. It's a way to keep up my creative practice without having to make a film that takes five years. So, Instagram is a good place to find me and I'm just @ lizfilm.

 

Leah Jones  1:16:27

But thank you so much. This has been really a wonderful conversation.

 

Liz Nord 1:16:29

Thank you and happy holidays. Merry Christmas to all the listeners. Who are listening on Christmas.

 

Leah Jones  1:16:36

It's Merry Christmas. It's merry last night of hug I think it's last night of Hanukkah.

 

Liz Nord 1:16:41

Yeah, might be the night before but either way. Yes. Holiday season be merry and bright. Whatever you celebrate or even if you don't celebrate anything.

 

Leah Jones  1:16:52

This real perfect overlap of Christmas and Hanukkah this year ruined my Hanukkah party. Just traditionally the Saturday night of Hanukkah, but I have a big party. It's Christmas Eve. And it will be with my family. So. I don't, we’ll see if my sister allows me to cook latkes in her kitchen. I don't know.

 

Liz Nord 1:17:15

They do stink up the place but they’re so delicious. I'm gonna try cheddar latkes because this year just to make latkes more fattening.

 

Leah Jones  1:17:24

Beautiful. Beautiful.

 

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